20th Annual Sacramento Museum Day on 2/3! | Arts & Culture

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With 26 museums and local destinations participating during this celebratory year, the 20th Annual Sacramento Museum Day is proudly presented by Sutter Health and takes place on Saturday, February 3, 2018. To the delight of the greater Sacramento area community, the participating local museums will open their doors to offer free or half-priced admission to the community from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Most of the museums will offer free admission whereas two destinations located in residential areas – the Sacramento Zoo and Fairytale Town – will offer half-priced admission to offset parking and traffic control costs.

Coordinated by the Sacramento Area Museums (SAM) and Visit Sacramento, the annual event is a popular cultural tradition designed to encourage all members of the community to experience the Capital City’s incredible wealth of art, history, science and wildlife – at little or no cost. Many of the museums are within walking distance of each other and easily accessible via public transportation. Event coordinators suggest that guests plan to visit no more than two or three different museums on this day in order to allow adequate time to enjoy the experience and to travel between individual sites.

In addition to offering free or reduced cost admission, many of the destinations are offering special activities during Sacramento Museum Day. The activities range from special staffing by docents (for some smaller museums not normally open on Saturdays) to the following:

- The California Automobile Museum will feature a special Story Time with a celebrity reader at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. Also, some of the eye-catching class cars will be on display outside the Museum (weather permitting);

- The California State Library will be featuring water transportation in California and a special Haiku and Japanese Art exhibit. The State Library has the largest haiku collection outside of Japan. Plus, kids can visit with the Library’s very own robo-dog, Browser;

- Museum of Medical History will be staffed by retired physicians to answer questions and enhance the visitor experience on Sacramento Museum Day;

- Powerhouse Science Center Discovery Campus guests will have the opportunity to experiment with some of the hands-on engineering design activities offered in Design Lab and see live critters and insects up-close in the Nature Discovery Area. Additionally “Scooter” the Air Quality Management District’s mascot is plans to make a special guest appearance;

- The Roseville Utility ExplorationCenter will present a special “Bird and Bug Bonanza” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This free family-friendly event will feature interactive activities such as a creek crawl in Cruddy Creek, joining the bug squad, story time with the library, exploring the local habitat and building a birdhouse (birdhouse requires $10 materials fee);

- The Sacramento Historic City Cemetery will offer tours that day and, if Museum Day guests make a donation to the Cemetery, they will have the unique opportunity to ring the big fire bell;

- The Sacramento History Museum will offer their interactive and fun gold panning activities for kids outside in front of the Museum;

- The Sacramento Zoo will have craft stations hosted by Zoo teens and docents available throughout the day to answer animal questions and share biofacts. Also, guests are encouraged to stop by the Reptile House Lawn at 11 a.m. to meet some of the Zoo’s animal ambassadors during an Animal Encounter.

“We are thrilled to present the 20th Annual Sacramento Museum Day and invite the community to join us during this celebratory year,” said Sacramento Area Museums Chair Lynda Walls. “And we’d especially like to thank our continuing sponsor – Sutter Health – for helping us to present this important event each year so we can introduce the community to the amazing array of arts, culture and museum offerings available in the greater Sacramento region.”

While admission is free at most of the participating museums during Sacramento Museum Day, admission to two destinations located in residential areas are half-priced as follows: Sacramento Zoo is $7.50 for adults, $5 for children ages 2-11 and free for children under two; Fairytale Town is $2.88 per person and free for children ages one and under.

Due to the popularity of Sacramento Museum Day, some locations must limit the number of admissions for safety reasons. The event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. but note the last guests will be admitted at 4 p.m. More detailed information about participating museums, addresses, limitations, suggested parking and public transit options is available at www.sacmuseums.org (click on “News & Events”), or by calling Visit California at (916) 808-7777.

*SAM member museums not able to officially participate in the 2018 Sacramento Museum Day include the following: California Agriculture Museum (that is offering special adult programming that day until 2 p.m.); California Statewide Museum Collections Center; Crocker Art Museum (charging $5 admission that day) and the Governor’s Mansion State Historic Park (closed to the public). Also, Locke Boarding House Museum – a SAM Affiliate member – plans to be open for guests that day.

For more information about upcoming activities offered by Sacramento area museums, “like” them on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SacMuseums, follow them on Instagram and Twitter @SacMuseums or visit the user-friendly website at www.SacMuseums.org.

About the Sacramento Area Museums (SAM)

Comprised of 30 greater Sacramento area museums working in partnership with Visit Sacramento, SAM’s mission is to raise awareness of local museums by giving the community the opportunity to discover California’s fine art, history, science and wildlife treasures. SAM achieves its mission through implementing cooperative promotions and developing strategic marketing alliances, by encouraging sharing of knowledge and resources among its partner institutions. For more information, visit www.SacMuseums.org